The Japanese Are Crazy Intense Speed Demons With Calculators

While we grew up using a calculator to type in "5318008" before turning it upside down to see the word "BOOBIES" spelled out, the Japanese focused on using these machines to their absolute maximum potential with a swiftness that will leave you baffled.

This report from 2014 shines a light on a sect of people in Japan who are maestros of the calculator. There are accountants who can't type on these machines with this kind of blazing precision that leaves smoke coming out of the screen.

One woman was timed hitting nine buttons per second. Nine! It takes us a full three seconds to even find the nine on a calculator. This blows our mind almost as much as when we learned what the heck the M+ key does.

Japan is so jazzed by calculators that it held a contest to see who could use them the quickest and most accurately while high schools groom the stars of tomorrow with calculator clubs that are so devoted they'll hone their skills seven hours a day on Saturday and then again on Sunday. Is it just us or does "calculator club" sound like a punchline from Saved by the Bell?

Whatever the fascination with calculators is, one thing remains clear: watching this adds up to some oddly mesmerizing video.